a/n: fluff. Cliché. So much cliché. Tense inconsistent. Forgive me.

Three excited knocks on her door followed by an ecstatic squeal takes Gwiboon’s attention from her mobile phone. She has been waiting for it to light up for the past twenty-three minutes, now twenty-four (not that she’s counting, really) for a call or even just a reply to her message. But she has nothing, well at the moment because that Dino better have a good reason for not replying.

 Gwiboon sighs deeply and shifts on her bed to lie on her back, looking blankly at her ceiling then glancing back on her phone. She sighs again and drags herself up towards her door.

“Gwiboonnie~ I just wanna remind you about that party tonight!!!” Minjung calls from the other side of the door. Gwiboon sluggishly opens it and is greeted by round sparkling eyes from her unit mate and best friend.

“I’ll see if I can go. I might review for my major subject and do some of my thesis.” She replied softly, eying their other unit mate as she fixes her hair in front of the mirror. She lives with these two girls in a simple apartment one block away from their campus where she is a graduating student taking up a Communication course. Although, most of the time, their other unit mate is either locked in her room or out for god knows how long. Sometimes, they are wondering if she is getting annoyed with the two of them and their boyfriends who are constantly around.

It is already the middle of the semester and she can consider herself lucky to have her major setting the midterm exam more than a week after all her other four subjects’ midterms (well, she has a deadline for the first draft of her thesis by the end of the month though).

“But you promised Jinki and I that you’ll be there! That’s why we’re so excited about this! Plus I already told the others that you’ll be coming!” the slightly younger girl argues.

“That’s before Jonghyun told me he’ll be leaving for the long weekend.” The girl in question mumbles out of Minjung’s earshot so she just continues with another reason that will probably be “more reasonable”. “As if you would still pay attention to me when you have your hot boyfriend with you already.”

Minjung blushes at that and shifts her eyes away from Gwiboon. “B-but still... you... y-you should be t-there!” she blurts out, stumbling over her words.

“I said, ‘I’ll see if I can go’. I didn’t decline yet, Minnie” she moves towards the small corner which they treat as their kitchen and opens the refrigerator and grabs a bottle of cold water.

Later that night, Gwiboon pulls a black sleeveless sheer top out of her closet to pair up with her denim shorts and zebra print pumps which are still in its box under her bed. She walks over to her vanity mirror where some other accessories are littered, only to walk back to her closet and dump the top on the growing pile of clothes on her bed. She has been trying on clothes to go clubbing but nothing seems to look good for her taste.

Maybe Jonghyun would like if— this! I won’t be going anymore!

It has been a three days since her boyfriend went over to their province to visit his grandparents. Three days where they have not really talked properly with each other—because Gwiboon can’t really consider ‘Sorry Baby, it’s hard to find signal around here. I love you too.’ or ‘two weeks won’t be long. I love you’ a proper reply.

She rolls over her bed and buries her face in her fluffy pillow then screams till hurt.

It’s not like this is the first time that they’d be away from each other for a few days, but this is the longest that she is not able to even just hear her boyfriend’s voice or seen his face.

She would have gone there with him and no one would mind. Jonghyun’s family adores her the first time they all meet for Jonghyun’s noona’s birthday. It is more than a week long break because of the three-day foundation celebration of the city where their university is, Saturday and Sunday, no classes on Monday, a national holiday on Tuesday and well, she forgot what else for Wednesday but it is announced that there are no classes either.

Supposedly, there are classes for Thursday and Friday but the President announced that the other National holiday which falls on a Saturday be celebrated on the Friday before so there can be a long weekend (something to do with spending more time with the family). So technically, their only class day is Thursday.

And that is the exam day. That’s why Gwiboon can’t be absent on that day not like her boyfriend (because the lucky bastard just have two classes that day, one is scheduled for a film viewing —which they have watched together already— and the other a lecture that he can miss because "handouts" will be available via Jinki’s notes.)

In addition to that, her instructor on this one technical subject just had to schedule a two-days-one-night field trip on some place on that Friday and Saturday. And no, she can’t bail on that either just because she wanted to come with her boyfriend to their province.

So that would have been a total of twelve days without classes—four weekends included—that she would have spent with Jonghyun. But the universe must really hate her because she’s stuck in her dorm trying to get started with her thesis when she’s just too lazy to study. Or is it the other way around?

Where on earth can he be that he doesn’t have internet and even mobile signal?! Oh yeah, in that province.

The familiar music box tone rung, which is her phone’s message alert tone, and she quickly taps the screen to reveal the message before looking at the screen, only to find out that it is an ad from her service provider. She almost throws it against the wall if not for the tone going off again.

               From Jonghyunnie

             I know you’re still awake and upset about this. I wanna hear you voice too. I’ll be home soon. I love you <3

She is on her fifth or twenty-fifth—she lost count actually— time rereading the message when her phone goes off again and after cursing herself for being a sap and not taking the chance to send a reply, she checks on whatever it is.
 

1 audio file received

I miss you.mp3

She falls asleep that night with Jonghyun singing about walking under the moonlight and holding her hand—with crickets and frogs belting their own notes in the background—on repeat until her phone runs out of battery.

For the next days, she focuses—or at least tries to—on reviewing for her midterm exam. Aside from the obvious fact that she has to do it, reading back through her notes pushes the thought of her boyfriend not being there to review with her or just keep her company —because that bastard can easily pass his exams even if he’s just playing Diablo ‘til past midnight or singing love songs just to .

Jonghyun’s a year older than her and is taking up a five-year Engineering course in the same university. He’s not really the type of student who buries himself in books and notes to get good grades. He is more of a laid back student but his grades are most of the time above average. He knows his way around his stuff and even if it doesn’t seem like it, he does pay attention in his classes —and well, thanks to Jinki’s notes also. It’s not his fault that he knew what to do even with just a glance at his exercise sheets or exams. And Gwiboon is so proud of him for that.

At some of those days, Gwiboon drags herself out of their apartment with her notes and her laptop to her favorite Milk Tea Shop.

This is one of those days.

She pulls the strap of her pink messenger bag over her shoulder, walks out the door and takes a few flights of stairs to go out of their apartment complex. When she arrives in the Shop, she places her bag in her usual corner then walks over to the counter to order a Wintermelon Milk Tea with Pearl add ons. The college student pulls out her stuff while waiting for her order and just as she is about to enter her password in her laptop, her name is called to claim her cold treat.

With mellow music playing through her earphones just to drown the chit-chat of the other students around her, she starts to go through the last parts of her notes. She continues to highlight and underline some keywords, sometimes muttering them under her breath and repeating the words to commit to memory. She skims through some online pages for more related information and pens down some side reminders.

After a few more underlines here and there, she closes her notebook and lets out a relieved sigh. Now, her only problem is where to get confidence for the next day’s exam. Jonghyun always has the right thing to say to ease her (unreasonable) paranoia over any kind of exam.

“Gwiboon-ah!” Minjung calls as she knocks on her door. “Get up already! Your midterms exam is today!” she has to knock a few more times before the door finally opens and reveals a still very drowsy Gwiboon. “What happened to you?! Didn’t you take the whole week to review? Did you cram over something last night?” Minjung rants on as Gwiboon just drags herself towards the kitchen to fix herself some coffee or just anything that can wake her up a bit more.

“I told you, food’s on the table.” Her best friend tsks as she turns the other towards the wooden table. “You’ve got forty-five minutes before Ten, hurry up!”

“Min~” Gwiboon whines at her phone while a rather miserable (but still cute) pout is on her lips. “I don’t think I’ll pass. I think I fell asleep towards the middle of the exam...and I’m not sure if my sentences are still coherent on the essay part.” An audible bang is transmitted through the phone when the slightly older of the two smacks her head on the wall beside her “out of misery” and more of her incoherent whines follows.

“Kim Gwiboon! Shut up this instant! The last time you said that, which is—mind you— just last week, you got the top score in your section. So stop overthinking and being paranoid okay? Hurry back to the apartment and let’s meet there before—”

Big raindrops pelt through the whole campus which soon become a downpour.

“It’s raining, Min~ my pink ballet flats would be soaked!” Gwiboon whines again and she has the urge to stomp her feet on the ground because nothing’s going right and Why me?

“What were you thinking Kim Gwiboon?! You should have told me that you don’t have an umbrella with you so Jinki and I would have fetched you there!” Minjung nags as she helps Gwiboon with her stuff and covers her with her pink fluffy towel. “Jonghyun would kill me if something happens to you.” she mumbles, knowing that the subject is a sensitive one.

“Sorry, umma.” Gwiboon jokes trying to lighten the mood, but the chattering of her teeth and the shiver in her voice just makes Minjung frown even more. Then she is shooed to take a hot shower. She comes out much later, dressed in her blue cloud-print pajama pants and gray sleeveless top into their unit smelling of miso soup and chili paste and eggs. She walks through the short hallway towards the ‘kitchen’ and decides to put something in her stomach to warm it up.

“Woah, Gwiboon, I don’t know where you put all those food.” Jinki comments as Minjung passes her friend the third bowl of rice. “Do you have a black hole in place of your stomach or something? You eat like a construction worker but you are thin like a stick.” Minjung kicks his leg under the table and he looks at her innocently.

Gwiboon swallows the rice in and drank some water before glaring at Jinki and smiling sarcastically. “And you’re telling me that because you have a really great muscular body, right?” She scoffs and continues to eat.

“Yah! For your information I have abs already!” he stands up and tugs his tucked-in shirt from his pants.

“Lee Jinki!” Minjung shouts and smacks her boyfriend’s arm. “Shut up and just eat. God!”

Gwiboon bows her head and finishes her food while trying hard not to burst out laughing at the two. “Thank you for the food.” She says and stands up to leave the two alone.

She goes to her room and starts cleaning up all the mess that she made while studying, sorting out the assignments from her different subject and piling up the handouts and books. She goes through her cabinets and drawers and collects receipts, wrappers and other stuff the she forgot to throw away. She starts to sneeze repeatedly and decides that she has to finish cleaning up to get all those dust away from her.

After a few more minutes she flops on her bed and sighs contently. She is just lying there peacefully until heart-stopping sneezes attack her again.

“Oh Lord.” She inhales deeply and tries to get her heartbeat back to normal. “Aish, stupid allergies.” She mumbles and slowly falls asleep, not noticing the blinking reminder on her phone.

Gwiboon can’t really remember how and when she fell asleep last night but that’s really not important now because someone already decided to disturb her by on her door.

“Sleeping beauty~! Min sent me to wake you up!” she hears Jinki call. She would have flipped him off and tell him that he is stupid because it is a holiday and just go back to sleep. “She won’t let me in her room unless you’re up! YAH! Kim Gwiboon!”

She palms her bed for her phone to check the time— or maybe throw it to Jinki because he’s still knocking. Her hand grabs the familiar object and almost fell off the bed when the reminder on her screen greets her.

“Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?! My field trip is today!” she hightails to the bathroom to take a quick shower and brush her teeth. She has to be quick because she still has to pack her stuff and call time’s in an hour.

“Gwiboonnie! I’ve already packed your stuff last night! So breathe okay?!” Minjung shouts over the shower just as she is rinsing.

“How did you know I have a field trip today?” she shouts back.

Minjung didn’t answer for a while and Gwiboon figures that she must have gone back to sleep, it is just a quarter passed three anyway. So she is a bit surprised to see her making a sandwich in the kitchen when she goes out of the bathroom fully dressed but hair still a tangled mess.

“I saw your phone last night when I checked on you because you aren’t responding when I asked you something. Here, I also made you breakfast.”

“Miiiiin~ you really love me~” she sings as she hops towards her best friend like a little kid and hugs her from behind. “Thank you~” and she squeezes her middle.

“Yah! Stop that! Boyfriend in here!” Jinki whines and tries to tug Minjung out of Gwiboon’s hug. “Don’t you have a field trip to go to?”

And with that, Gwiboon is running around to get her bag, comb her hair and grab the breakfast that her umma made for her.

The field trip is fun. Well, Gwiboon would have really enjoyed it if her cold didn’t go from bad to worse because it is cold in the place that they visited, with little drizzles and showers every now and then —and she doesn’t have an umbrella, good thing some of her classmates are willing to share theirs.

The latter half of the second day is allotted for souvenir shopping but the senior student has to turn down the opportunity because her head is pounding and she can barely get anything down without feeling uncomfortable knots in her stomach. Good thing her instructor allowed her to stay behind and told her that she should rest well so she’d be ready to go home when they get back.

She tries to get some sleep, hoping that she’ll feel better when she wakes up but the unsettling knots are not going away. Gwiboon already walked back and forth to the comfort room feeling the vomit rising up in but when she gets there, it will be gone and she’ll be more sluggish every time.

Gwiboon decides that she’ll pack her things while her insides are behaving and her headache is tolerable. She is almost done and is just about to put her toiletries in and zip her bag when there is a rather harsh tug in her stomach that had her rushing to the comfort room again.

After heaving the little amount of food she had for lunch, she washes and drags her feet back to her assigned room falling gracelessly onto the bed and burying herself to the covers. hurts and her stomach muscles felt sore but she feels a little bit better.

It is just a few minutes passed two and she decides that she’ll sleep until they all come back. She almost has her phone on the nightstand when it vibrates in her hands and her new ringtone—which is the song Jonghyun sent her— fills the room.

“Gwiboonnie!”

“Yep, Min umma?” she answers with a giggle.

“Yah! Don’t call me that you brat!” Gwiboon just continues laughing but her with her dry throat, she starts to cough. “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you still not feeling well?”

“I’m fine.. I guess.” She replies and pulls the covers closer to herself. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna die yet.”

“Aish this girl. How can you not take care of yourself? Tsk. Anyway, I called because I wanted to ask you what time you’d be coming home.”

“I don’t know. But we should leave by 6pm later. Do you have a date with Jinki? It’s okay. I have my keys with me.”

“No it’s not that!” Minjung almost shouts at her. Gwiboon doesn’t really understand why her best friend is still oh so shy when they’re talking about her relationship with Jinki. They’ve been together since her freshman year for god’s sake!

“Then what?” she asks with a chuckle because she can imagine her friend blushing right now.

“Jinki says that we should get you if you’d be home late. And now I really think we should because you’re a sick little kitten.” The slightly younger teased back because aside from her undying love for milk, it’s a known fact that Kim Gwiboon, as y as she may get sometimes—most of the time actually—  she is really sweet and she loves to cuddle and has a habit of nuzzling her nose or rubbing her cheek against her close friends’ neck or arm.

Specially with Jonghyun.

Because an upset Gwiboon will cheer up right away with a hug from him.

Whether it be both of them standing and Jonghyun swaying their bodies side to side, his arms around her slim waist and mumbling comforting words to her as she hides her face by his neck with both her arms.

Or Gwiboon opening her arms up to him as she is sitting down and Jonghyun just arrived to get her or meet up with her. Then she will be the one to embrace his torso as she nestles her face onto his chest while Jonghyun asks her what’s wrong as he caresses her hair or her back.

But what really gave Gwiboon this little nickname is the way she curls up on Jonghyun’s lap whenever they’re in the apartment. Then she’ll lean her head on his shoulder or his chest and Jonghyun will just pull her closer and rub comforting circles on her back. There are times that Gwiboon falls asleep like that, enjoying the warmth offered by Jonghyun’s body close to her specially on the cold evenings or rainy days. Sometimes they would just sit like this, Jonghyun talking to her and asking questions and Gwiboon replying with little nods or hums.

And at the back of her mind, Minjung thinks that maybe that is one of the reasons why her best friend got sick; because she’s really upset and her source of happy hormones is not around. That or they just can’t live apart for too long.

“You don’t have to, you know.” The sick girl replies, her eyes getting heavier every passing second. “I’ll just call Jonghyun to get me.” she continues until her voice fades towards the end.

“Yah Kim Gwiboon! Did you just—?! Aish this girl.” Minjung sighs on the other line before talking again. “Jonghyun is still out of town, that’s why we’ll be the ones fetching you. Rest well okay?” the younger hears her best friend’s soft breathing on her speakers as reply and she can just shake her head before hanging up.

“Are you feeling any better?” Jinki asks her as he helps her with her bag.

“Did you even take medicine?” his girlfriend follows up even before she has the chance to answer.

It’s almost midnight when they arrived and Minjung has called her two more times to check on her. Gwiboon is really grateful to Minjung and Jinki because they are always willing to help her and she feels loved.

“I’ll be fine. I just have to sleep this off.” She assures them as they get into Jinki’s car. It is not really a far walk but Gwiboon is thanking the universe for making her closer to her bed. “But thanks for worrying for me, Min Umma, Jinki appa.” She adds just to tease them.

When they reach the apartment, Gwiboon beelines for her room and dives into her bed. She rolls over it a few times before settling in a curled position and relaxing her tired body. But her sweet reunion with her bed is interrupted when she hears the couple laughing.

“Aww, what a cute little kitty we have here.”

She grumbles something to them and turns away from them to get some rest.

“No kitty. You have to wash up first and eat some dinner!” Minjung walks to her bed and pulls at her sheets. “I know you haven’t eaten yet. Come on, kitty.”

“Uuuugh! But I just want to sleep.” She struggles at first but lets her best friend pull her up and out of her bed.

“After you wash up and eat dinner, you can.”

Minjung knocks at Gwiboon’s door while talking to someone on her phone, she opens it when she got no response. “Gwiboonnie?”

There is shifting of sheets and soft whimpers from the room and the younger decides to enter after telling the caller to just call back after a while. “Hey, are you okay?” she asks as she sits on Gwiboon’s bed and touched the lump, who she believes to be her best friend. Minjung gets no coherent answer aside from whimpers again. She sighs and pulls the covers from Gwiboon and is greeted by bleary eyes, flushed cheeks and a runny nose. Minjung giggles and searches for some tissue and gives it to her friend.

“Ah, Gwiboonnie, look at you.” she whispers and moves Gwiboon’s hair out of her face. “Hey, have you forgotten what day is today?” she asks and Gwiboon just gapes at her. “Shame. Anyway, you better wash up to feel refreshed. You seem to be having a slight fever.” Minjung stands up and pulls Gwiboon with her.

“My head is pounding Min~” she whines as she clings on her friend, too lazy to stand up properly.

“That’s why I’m telling you to wash up while I prepare something for you to eat so you can drink medicine.” The younger pries Gwiboon’s arms off of her torso and proceeds to walk out the room. “Kim Gwiboon, I told you to wash up. Don’t go back to sleep!” she commands and all Gwiboon can do is to pout and drag herself to her cabinet.

“Yes umma.”

“Miiiiiiiin~” Gwiboon calls from the small sofa-bed in their little living room. “What kind of medicine did you give me? Aish. I’m feeling sleepy and there’s a drama I wanna catch!!!” she complains even more.

“YAH! Can’t you just be thankful?!” Minjung shouts from her room which is the farthest door in the small hallway. “It is something for your cold of course. Drowsiness is just a side effect so you can stop being a for a while.” She got no response so she just continues to sort her stuff. After a while, she finishes and realizes that it is too quiet—no whining, no nagging, no ing. She goes to the living room to find Gwiboon sleeping in a slouched position, used tissue papers accumulated by her side forming a small mountain of trash.

“Aish this .” She mumbles. “Gwiboonnie. Get up and sleep properly in your bed. You’ll gonna be complaining to me non-stop if you hurt your neck in that position.” Minjung shakes Gwiboon and she opens her eyes, mumbles something but stands up nonetheless. Gwiboon scratches on her upper arm, then on her left cheek while walking to her room in what Minjung thought as auto-pilot. The slightly older girl crawled to her bed and hides under the covers, then it is silent again.

“Hey! Uh yes, she’s sleeping now... She got a cold and a slight fever when I checked on her when you called.” Minjung says to the person in the other end, voice almost in a whisper careful not to wake her sick best friend. “Are you two not talking to each other?” she asks and before she even gets the chance to reprimand the caller for treating her best friend like that, she catches herself because, “Ah, yes. I remember now. She’s been whining nonstop about that. I didn’t know what to do with her. You know how she is when she’s upset.”

“Maybe that’s why she’s not answering my calls all day.” Minjung can hear the distress in the other’s voice as they talk although she can’t help but feel happy despite of it all. She’s really happy for her best friend. “That other one though, I know a whole lot. That’s why I’m getting more worried.”

Minjung chuckles and reminds the caller to just push those worries out of their mind for the moment and just drive safely. The other however, sheepishly asks her to watch over Gwiboon for a while more because they still have to take a little detour to their parents’ home and she agrees without batting an eyelash.

“I already told you to focus on the road and just get here safely. I’m sure you also know how that little kitty would transform to a tiger if she learns that you’re using your phone while driving. She hates that and you know it.”

The other chuckles and bids goodbye to Minjung, but not after another sincere “Thank you for taking care of Gwiboon while I’m away.”

It’s not a few more hours later when the door to their apartment opens with a soft click.

“Just go in her room. She’s been asking for you when she woke up an hour or so ago.” Jinki says even before the other asks. “Almost cried too because apparently her phone’s battery died while she was sleeping and she says she could have talked to you if she wasn’t so sleepy.” he continues while Jonghyun places the bag that he brought with him on the table. The only girl stands up from beside her boyfriend and looks at what the other was doing.

“I’ll get this fixed for you, Jonghyun.” Minjung takes the food container from the male and pushes him to the direction of Gwiboon’s room. “ Go.”

“Thanks guys.” He offers them a small smile and proceeds in the room then closes the door quietly. With the small amount of light he can still see her cheeks still a bit flushed. Gwiboon whimpers a little and shifts under the thick layer of blankets. He sits on her bed and combs a hand through her hair and she relaxes.

Although he wants to talk to her, hear her whine about anything and nothing, see her pout because he’d just be smiling at her all that while  and of course wrap her in his arms because ‘God, I missed you.’ Seeing the serenity on her face as she moves closer to the warmth of his hand makes Jonghyun think that ‘No, this would be enough for now.’ And so he hums a little tune softly while his hand continues to the girl’s locks.

The engineering student had half the mind to change out of his clothes before hoping back to the car and going to the girls’ apartment because he was such in a hurry to see his girlfriend. However, his noona who learned about the future-sister-in-law having a cold pulled her younger brother back and told him to change out of his clothes while she makes some food for them.

“Who knows what kind of virus you have with those clothes that you are wearing while traveling across time and space?!” Jonghyun knew it was exaggerated but a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt, right? And he wouldn’t want her condition to worsen because of him. But as soon as the food were in their containers, he rushed out of their house to another one and a half hour drive back to their campus.

And seeing her like this, all cuddled up in blankets and watching the steady riseandfall, riseandfall from her breathing makes him loosen up and at the same time, he realizes how tired he really is.

Gwiboon stirs again when Jonghyun is feeling sleepy himself.

“Jjongie?” she mumbles, her voice a little hoarse and caught up in . She shifts a little from her cocoon to get a better view of the other person in her room.

He gives her a soft “Hey.” And one of those crooked smiles that never fails to make Gwiboon’s heart flutter even if they have been together since she was sixteen or further back in elementary when she was still very much clueless on what that feeling was.

Not even a second passes and she has her arms clinging onto him for dear life, her head on the crook of his neck and their bodies pressing close. A chuckle bubbles in Jonghyun’s chest. This girl is just too adorable for words. He always thinks at the back of his head that he must have done something heroic in his past lives to be blessed  with someone like Gwiboon.

“I know.” He says quietly after a while then he shifts a little to sit more comfortably by the edge of the bed, all the while not breaking the hug. “I missed you too.” he kisses the top of her head and pats her back comfortingly. And she just replies by tightening her arms around him.

“Food’s ready guys! Let’s eat dinner!” Jinki calls from the kitchen after a few more minutes.

“Come on, noona made something for you.” he says as he gives Gwiboon a small pat on her lower back before he pulls away to stand up then offers out a hand to help her up.

“Noooo~” she raises her arms to him instead. “Carry me!”

Jonghyun laughed but complied anyway by giving his back to her. Gwiboon stands up on the bed behind him and wraps her arms over his broad shoulders. He bends a little forward to let her hop on his back and holds her up by supporting the back of her knees.

“Were you eating while I was away, hm? You seem to weigh lighter.” Jonghyun comments as he bounces his girlfriend higher up his back a little.

“I was!” she replies defensively. “Just... not much lately since I’m not feeling well.” She confesses when Jonghyun stays still in their spot, then conceals  her face on the crook of his neck. “Also, you’re not here to feed me.” she mumbles as he finally walks out of the room.

Jonghyun chuckles and bounces her again.

“Good thing we’re graduating together then. How would you survive a year without me if I were to graduate earlier?”

“Then I’d probably die.” She replies thoughtfully. Then she raises her head and smiles rather evilly at her boyfriend who is watching her with amusement. “Or I’ll just distract you all the time so you won’t graduate on time. Then we will graduate together!” she finishes enthusiastically with a clap of her hands.

“Aigoo, that’s a bad thing to say.” Jonghyun lets her down on her feet once they arrive in their destination. Gwiboon whines a little and Jonghyun turns around to see her pouting. He smiles at her and pinches her already red nose. “You little diva. You shouldn’t say things like that! What if I really don’t graduate this time and you’d be the one to leave me behind?”

“Well...” Gwiboon taps her chin in deep thoughts as she walks to the sink to wash her hands.

“You are not thinking of leaving me behind right?” she feels Jonghyun hug her waist and squeeze her slightly when she refuses to give him an answer. She looks over her shoulder and sees those beautiful brown eyes that she missed.

“Maybe~” she says with a playful giggle. Jonghyun stares at her with mock surprise which changes quickly to a playful glare followed by a ticklish nip on her neck.

And before they make a mess in the kitchen with their play fight, Minjung calls them again.

It is almost midnight and the movie that they are watching is almost over. Or so Gwiboon thinks. She has no clear idea of what it is about since she has been dozing off in certain parts of the movie. Who can blame her? Jonghyun’s been caressing her hair the moment she laid her head on his shoulder. She is sitting sideways on the sofa with her thighs on Jonghyun’s lap and her feet dangling a few inches above the floor, and her arms loosely hugging his torso. Minjung is sitting on the other end of the sofa with Jinki’s head on her lap as he is sitting on the floor.

When she opens her eyes again —she swears she’s just going to blink! She didn’t know she’ll fall asleep again— it is to the sound of Mingjung’s giggles.

“Aww, look at that. The kitten is awake.” She teases even more, the two males laughing quietly when Gwiboon just murmurs incoherent profanities and hides her face on her boyfriend’s shoulder.

“Let’s give the little kitty some slack now, Minjung-ah.” Jinki says and stands up from the floor. “She’s getting her refill of happy hormones.” He adds, chuckling at their inside joke.

Minjung also stands up beside her boyfriend, her left arm hooking onto his right. “I think I’m craving for some fries. Let’s go on a date?” Jinki chuckles and reaches for her hand to entwine with his.

“Sure, why not?” he says and they walk out of the apartment chuckling to themselves.

Jonghyun can just sigh at the couple and shake his head at their not really obvious attempt of leaving them alone. He looks down at the girl half sitting on his lap, and no, he’s not even complaining.

“Hey, kitty, let’s get you to bed.” he coos sweetly as he brushes a finger on her warm cheek. Gwiboon swats at his hand and nestles her head onto his neck, now sitting completely on his lap with her legs pulled close to her body.

“Wait, you’re hot.” Jonghyun says with a little panic in his voice as he feels Gwiboon’s forehead on his neck. He pushes her a little so he can place a hand on her forehead startling her in the process.

“What? I’m always hot. So just shut up and let me sleep. It's cold.” Gwiboon goes back to her previous position, ready to go back to dream land but Jonghyun doesn’t want to let it go.

“Kim Gwiboon, I’m not even joking now.” His voice is stern and Gwiboon sort of hates it when he uses that tone on her. She feels like she is being lectured and she hates that so much. “Why are you taking this so lightly?!”

She pouts and moves to stand up from the couch, shivering visibly when her bare feet touched the cold tiles of the floor. Jonghyun follows and continues his scolding. “You should have just told me that you’re still running a fever so I could have just let you sleep in your bed and rest!”

“Just go to your own apartment, Jonghyun.” She mumbles quietly as she takes small steps towards her room. “Let’s talk tomorrow when you’re not mad at me anymore.”

Hearing the fragility of her voice and seeing her sulking shoulders, Jonghyun’s expression softened. He walks toward her and hugs her from behind. He frowns when she tries to get out of his arms.

“I’m sorry Baby. I’m... not mad at you... Just worried...” He sighs when she does not respond. So he pulls away a little to turn her around and cups her face in his hands to make her look at him. “Look at me, Baby... I’m really, really sorry... Now, if you really want me to go to my apartment, I’ll leave you. Just please promise me that you’ll take care of yourself okay?” he leans forward and places a loving kiss on her warm forehead.

Gwiboon still gave no response to him so he gives her a quite good night and turns to leave.

The soft click of the door snaps Gwiboon out of her trance and she looks around her. No one.

“Jonghyun!” she gasps and runs to the door, or at least tries to since her knees are feeling sluggish. How stupid, she thinks, I’ve been wanting to spend time with him all these past days and when he gets here, I shoo him away because he’s worried about me.

She yanks the door open and almost burst into tears when she sees him crouched by their door.

“I knew you’d want me to stay.” He says with a smile. He stands up and dusts his pants.

“I hate you!” she pushes his shoulders and pouts when he just chuckled at her and holds her wrists in his warm hands.

“No you don’t.” he pulls her closer to his body by her wrists and cages her in his arms. “But I’m really sorry for raising my voice at you.”

Gwiboon shakes her head and returns the embrace. “Let’s just forget about it, okay?” she feels Jonghyun nod and the next second she feels herself being scooped off the floor. And with a high pitched shriek, she flails her arms to grab on anything to keep her from falling. When she feels that the world is stable enough—as stable as it can be when your feet are dangling and the only security you have is the strong arms on the back of your knees and shoulders— she opens her eyes to meet with chocolate brown ones looking down at him.

“Now, let’s get you to bed.” he says as he toes off his shoes and walks into her room.

A few more minutes later, Jonghyun has changed into more comfortable clothes that he left  in Gwiboon’s cabinet and they are lying under the sheets with Gwiboon using Jonghyun’s right arm as pillow. He finally convinces her to take medicine for her cold after promising that he will stay with her even if she falls asleep. 

"Why must Minjung buy the one that has drowsy side effects?" she whines when Jonghyun hands her the capsule and a glass of water.

"It's supposed to be like that, Baby. So you can rest." he explains patiently as he coaxes her to swallow it. "And I already promised you that I'll stay the night and you can have me for all of tomorrow... I mean later, right?"

And soon enough, Gwiboon's eyes are drooping. Their feet are tangled while they lie facing each other with his hand brushing her locks (which are not really helping Gwiboon's attempt of staying awake).

 “Gwiboon-ah,” when she does not reply after a while, he thinks that maybe she’s asleep already. So, he pulls her closer and hugs her, his left hand rubbing her back soothingly when she shivered. He kisses her forehead and she opens her eyes blearily.

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

“Yeah... and I was dreaming... about you... But it’s okay.”

“Oh? What was I doing in your dream?” he asks curiously. Shouldn’t Gwiboon be mad at him for waking her up from a dream?

“Lying beside me... but I don’t want... that...” she stretches slightly and curls back to Jonghyun’s chest. “I like this... more... much, much more~” she inches closer to him until there is no space between their bodies.

Jonghyun chuckles at her antics. “You really missed me too much huh?”

“Yeeees~ Isn’t it obvious yet?” she slurs.

“Well, I see you wearing my shirt...” he says and tugs at the white top. “And I thought I lost it.”

“Now you know you didn’t. But consider it gone because I am not returning it any more~” Gwiboon sings sleepily and Jonghyun is so close to losing himself and biting that exposed shoulder.

“Why do you like that shirt anyway? It’s just plain white and too big on you.” he asks, humoring her, because Kim Gwiboon loves colors. She is anything but plain.

“But it still smells like you... even after washing it.”

“Ah, so you love my manly scent?”

Gwiboon hums and buries her nose on the crook of his neck and Jonghyun feels her inhale deeply.

“And that’s all?”

“No~ it feels like you’re... hugging me too.” Gwiboon murmurs, obviously fighting Sandman’s spell on her.

“So are you going to keep on kidnapping my shirts?” Jonghyun doesn’t even hide the amusement in his voice.  He loves to talk with his girlfriend when she is sleepy because she doesn’t have smart remarks for him and she is just that cute little girl that he is best friends with since that sunny afternoon in the community playground.

“Yeah... so you can’t get away from me... anymore... because I have all of your...shirts.” she finishes with a yawn and she goes back to snuggling against him.

The room is filled with Jonghyun’s cheery laughter while Gwiboon whines a little because of the noise and the little rumbles that she feels because of it.

“Now you’re holding my shirts hostage?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Well, I have a lot of things I want to do for the future... and I sure want to do them with you. So, don’t worry your cute little face about me leaving.” And it is all true.

Jonghyun is sure that Gwiboon neither hears nor understands him anymore or that she will not be able to recall that they had a conversation in the morning. But he still says it. Just because.

He raises her face by tilting her chin up and she sure is in a deep slumber. Jonghyun smiles and connects their foreheads. He feels a bit like a creeper for talking to his sleeping girlfriend and all, but hey, it’s still a bit romantic too... right? So he continues on with his little speech.

“And I’d probably die too if you leave me. That’s why you shouldn’t do that.” he says firmly, as if reprimanding her for having thoughts like that.

He kisses her on the forehead again, and tucks her head under his chin, “I love you, Baby. So much.” then pulls her close. “So ing much.”

“I love you too, Jjongie.”

It was almost an incoherent murmur, barely there. But he hears it, loud and clear.

Jonghyun succumbs to the Sandman’s spell with a smile. He is aware that they will have to be apart from each other many times in the near future, but he also knows that they will always come back in each other’s arms no matter what.

a/n: OH GOD! I’M DOOOOONE! Sorry for the wait~ but it’s not so long this time... right?  I would have posted this last night but the internet conecction is so ed up, i'm always getting an error something. huhu. Also I had to do some real world stuff the past days so yeah. If you haven’t really noticed it, Gwiboon’s to do = my to-do.

Oh, and “All of the characters and events in this story are fictional. Any similarity to a person living or dead is purely coincidental.” But it’s so cliché so I guess you already know this.

A little trivia about this story: I got the idea for this from the song T- and I wrote the “first draft” while I was riding the bus for a 5hr trip to the province. I think it’s my sem break back then, and a few months (a year almost) I got a “better” idea for the fic so I revised it and... tadaaaa~! This is the final product. I was planning on writing just 3K+ words, but now it’s 7.3k+ words. Urgh. What am I even doing with my life? OTL

And I find Minho[Minjung] very caring towards Key [Gwiboon] in real life, like he’s the older, more matured one. Specially if Kibummie is acting all spoiled and childish. I know there is a lot of MinKey in here, but that’s because I see them as cute siblings, nothing more. Haha. Sorry.

I hope you enjoyed it. Even if it’s not edited and it’s in the present tense and my tenses are really mixed up and it is so childish it doesn't even make sense. *headdesk* just tell me that it’s awful. I won’t get mad. TT^TT

I’m talking too much. Sorry. Yeah. Bye. *hidesunderarock*

photo by: WhoLivesOnDruryLane @ Flickr